


Chosen

by AgentStannerShipper



Series: tumblr ficlets [56]
Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: F/F, both relationships are implied or future, monster au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-20
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2020-01-23 00:43:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18538816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentStannerShipper/pseuds/AgentStannerShipper
Summary: Companions are rare and dangerous creatures. And Olivia is lucky enough to be allowed to have one.





	Chosen

**Author's Note:**

> Day three was "human."

“Careful,” Merlin cautioned her, taking Olivia’s hand as he guided her down the row of cages. “You don’t want to stand too close. Don’t want you losing any fingers because one of them decides they don’t like you.”

Olivia allowed her father to hold onto her, even as she studied the cages with interest. “They don’t look human,” she remarked. “Not like Harry.”

“That’s because Harry’s been domesticated since well before you were born.”

“Like a housecat?”

Merlin chuckled. “Aye, like a housecat. But don’t let him hear you say it. Domesticated or not, he’s liable to give you a nip for a comment like that on principle.”

Olivia doubted it. Harry adored her. She had it on good authority that for her first three years of life, Harry had abandoned his place on Merlin’s bed at night in favour of standing guard outside her door. As she’d gotten a little bit older, he had backed off in favour of what Merlin referred to as grooming: brushing her hair, helping her get dressed for school, and generally behaving almost as much a parent as her father did. It made sense, of course. Merlin’s bond with Harry went beyond what Olivia was used to seeing between humans and their companions. And young though she was, she was also smart enough to keep her mouth shut about it.

She strained a little, not really trying to break Merlin’s grip but trying to get a closer look at the cages. Kingsman Kennels sounded fancier than it looked, and Merlin had made a comment when they stepped inside about how run-down it looked in comparison to when he’d gotten Harry. Figures paced behind thick bars, their gates awkward and staggering, somewhere between moving on two legs and four. Shiny eyes glinted out at her, and she caught several flashes of teeth and a few low growls.

“How do I pick one if I can’t go up to them?” she asked, looking up at her father. “I can barely see them from here.”

They were walking along the path marked out in the centre of the room, a path outlined in glaring yellow tape, with warnings not to cross over it despite the fact that the cages were well over double even Merlin’s reach. Between that and the low lighting, making out more than shadow and silhouette was nearly impossible.

“Close your eyes.”

Olivia frowned at him, and he smiled indulgently. “I mean it, lass. Close your eyes.” He let go of her hand in favour of hoisting her up into her arms, and Olivia clung tight to him and obeyed.

“Do you feel that?”

There was a low hum in the air, one she hadn’t noticed with her eyes open. She nodded her head.

“Good. You don’t pick a companion by looking. You have to feel for it.”

“How?”

“Which way is it coming from?”

“I don’t know!” Olivia cried. The hum was like a thread that she couldn’t grasp the end of, faint and flickering just out of reach. She opened her eyes again and pouted. “This is stupid.”

“It’s not stupid,” Merlin admonished. “You’re very lucky to be allowed a companion. Close your eyes, a sheòid. Don’t reach for it. Let it come to you.”

Olivia sighed and obediently closed her eyes again, letting the hum wash over her. It danced out of reach for a moment, like a cat weaving away from questing hands, and then brushed tentatively up against her. Olivia nudged her father and pointed blindly. “That way.”

She directed him along the path, until the hum was loud enough that she could hear it even when she opened her eyes. She squirmed out of his arms, running for the cage and ignoring his called warnings behind her. Olivia wrapped her tiny hands around the bars and pressed her face between them as best she could, squinting into the gloom.

In the far back corner, a pair of narrowed yellow eyes squinted back at her.

“Hello,” Olivia said softly. “My name’s Olivia. We’re gonna take you home.”

Silence, save for a low rumbling noise. A hand landed on her shoulder, and Olivia jumped, but it was just her father. “You shouldn’t be this close, lass. Let’s take a few steps back, and-“

Before he could finish the sentence, so fast that Olivia only saw a brief blur of movement, the figure at the back of the cage darted forward, crooked fingers curled around the front of her shirt and holding her fast. Merlin tried to yank her back, but Olivia held still, frozen as she stared into the companion’s eyes, slitted pupils glowing bright.

“You’re so pretty,” she murmured. She reached inside the cage, ignoring the way her father’s breath caught, and stroked her hand over the long, silky brown hair that cascaded down over the companion’s shoulders. The companion blinked slowly at her, head tilted as she evaluated, and Olivia waited. Then the companion released her, sitting back on her haunches, a rumbling sound rising from her throat, the same sort of sound Harry made when he got comfortable on the sofa.

Merlin breathed a sigh of relief. “Alright, then.” He stepped forward again and peered at the nametag attached to the cage above Olivia’s head. “I suppose we’ll be taking…Lancelot home with us.”

“No,” Olivia said immediately. The companion and Merlin both still, and Olivia shook her head. “Not Lancelot. That’s not her name.”

“Oh?” Merlin asked, and Olivia could hear the smile in his voice. “What is, then?”

“Roxy,” Olivia decided. It felt right, a sensation in her gut that she couldn’t shake.

Roxy bared her teeth at Olivia in a parody of a smile, showing off each and every one of her jagged fangs. Olivia smiled back. “Yeah. Roxy’s the one.”


End file.
